File cabinet with pivoted sliding front door

ABSTRACT

The front end of this file cabinet is closed by a door which is hinged at its upper end to the cabinet. The door may be swung upwardly and forwardly about its pivot to horizontal position and then pushed back into the top of the cabinet to keep the cabinet open at the front. Door pivot blocks are fixed at the outer ends of the upper end of the door. At the inner sides of the upper ends of the side walls of the cabinet, are fixed horizontal racks with upwardly facing teeth. The door pivot blocks carry horizontally aligned pivot pins journalled on rack slides, slidably mounted on rack carriers fixed to the side walls of the cabinet and supporting the racks. Rotatably mounted on the rack slides is a transverse shaft, to the ends of which are fixed gears meshing with the racks.

United States Patent [1 1 Chovanec et a1.

[ FILE CABINET WITH PIVOTED SLIDING I FRONT DOOR [75] Inventors: William Chovanec, Montvale; Peter J. Heck, Teaneck, both of NJ,

[73] Assignee: Art Steel Company, Inc., Bronx,

Page 312 110 1 July 24, 1973 Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell Attorney-J. B. Felshin et al.

57 ABSTRACT The front end of this file cabinet is closed by a door which is hinged at its upper end to the. cabinet. The door may be swung upwardly and forwardly about its pivot to horizontal position and then pushed back into the top of the cabinet to keep the cabinet open at the front. Door pivot blocks are fixed at the outer ends of the upper end of the door. At the inner sides of the upper ends of the side walls of the cabinet, are fixed horizontal racks with upwardly facing teeth. The door pivot blocks carry horizontally aligned pivot pins journalled on rack slides, slidably mounted on rack carriers fixed t0 the side walls of the cabinet and supporting the racks. Rotatably mounted on the rack slides is a transverse shaft, to the ends of which are fixed gears meshing with the racks.

11 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Patented July 24, 1973 3,748,005

2 Sheets-Sheet l FILE CABINET WITH PIVOTED SLIDING FRONT DOOR This invention relates to a tile cabinet with front doors that can be swung upwardly and forwardly to horizontal position, and then pushed into the cabinet to be wholly housed in the top portion thereof.

An object of this invention is to provide, in a constructionof the character described, side rack carriers fixed to the side walls of the cabinet and on which racks are supported, and having means to slidably guide rack slides supporting a rotatable cross-shaft on which are fixed gears meshing with the racks, and to which rack slides, the front door is pivoted for upward and forward swinging.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a construction of the character described, door pivot blocks fixed in a hollow door and carrying pivot pins rotatably journalled on portions of the rack slides.

Still another object of this invention is to provide in a construction of the character described, rack carriers having grooved portions to receive the racks, with the rack teeth facing upwardly, and formed with longitudinal guide flanges to be received in through slots in the rack slides.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a construction of the character described, rack slides having aligned bearing openings to receive the ends of a cross-shaft to which pinions or gears are fixed and which mesh with the racks and which also are provided with forwardly extending bearing portions projecting into slots in door pivot blocks which have pins journalled in said bearing portions.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a strong and durable construction of the character described, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to manipulate, and which shall yet be practical and efficient to a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will be in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described and of which the scope of invention will be indicated in the following claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a file cabinet embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing the front door raised and pushed into the cabinet to open the front of the cabinet;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 7--7 of FIG. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, 10-designates a file cabinet embodying the invention.

Said cabinet 10 comprises a cabinet housing 11 having side walls 12, and a rear wall 13 which may be formed integrally therewith. At each of the rear corners of the cabinet are corner reinforcing members or posts 15, each having a flange 15a contacting and welded to the inner surface of a side wall. Extending from flange 15a at right angles thereto is a web' 15b from which a wall 150 extends in parallel relation to the side wall. Extending from wall 15c, at right angles thereto, is a shoulder 15d, from which another short wall l5e extends in parallel relation to the side wall. Extending from wall l5e is a flange 15f contacting and welded to the inner surface of the rear wall 13.

At the front of the cabinet housing 11, side walls 12 each have inwardly extending front walls 12a, from which flanges 12b extend rearwardly in parallel relation to the side walls 12, and aligned with wall l5e of member 15.

Disposed between flange 12b and adjacent side walls 12 are front corner reinforcing members or posts 18. Each member 18 comprises a flange 18a contacting an inner surface of wall 12a. Extending from the inner end of wall 18a is a wall 18b contacting the wall 12b. Extending from the rear end of wall 18b is a shoulder 180 from which a wall 18d extends rearwardly in parallel relation to wall 12. Extending from wall 18d is a wall 18c. Extending from wall l8e is a flange 18f contacting and welded to wall 12. Walls 18a or 18b may be welded to the walls 12a, 12b.

The cabinet may be of any desired height. It has a top wall 20. It may be divided into a plurality of shelf spaces by intermediate horizontal walls (not shown) and may have a bottom wall (not shown).

At the inner sides of the rear and front comer members, at the upper end of each shelf space 24 (only one shelf space is shown), are located a pair of similar, symmetrical rack housing or carrier members 25. Said members 25 extends horizontally from front to rear and each is fixed to an inner side of the cabinet in the manner hereinafter described.

Each rack housing or carrier 25 comprises a wall 25a disposed in a vertical plane and welded or otherwise fixed to wall l5e of a rear comer post 15 and to wall 12b at the same side of the cabinet. Extending inwardly from the lower end of each wall 250 is a horizontal web 25b from which a wall 25c extends upwardly. Extending inwardly from the upper end of wall 250 is a guide flange 25d. Guide flange 25d is located below the level of the upper edge of wall 25a. The rack housings or carriers 25 extend from a point rearwardly of walls 12a, substantially to the flanges 15f. It will be noted that above wall 25b and between walls 250 and 250 is fonned a channel or groove 26. Fitted into each groove 26 is a rack 27 having upwardly facing rack teeth 28. The racks 27 are fixed in grooves 26 and to the rack housing 25 by welding, screws, bolts or by any other suitable fastening means. The teeth of said racks should be in alignment.

' Slidably mounted on said pair of rack housings 25 are a pair of similar symmetrical rack slides 30. Each rack slide 30 comprises a block portion 30a formed witha through transverse horizontal bearing opening 30b. Extending downwardly from each block portion 30a is a block portion 300 formed at its outer side with a vertical surface 30d spaced inwardly of the outer surface 30e of block portion 30a. Block portion 300 is formed, in its outer side, with a horizontal narrow slot 30f disposed below block portion 300 and slidably receiving flange 25d of rack housing or carrier 25. Passing r otatably through the bearing openings 30b of the two rack slides 30, are the ends of a transverse horizontal cross-shaft 31 which extends beyond the rack slides and over the racks 27 and thereabove. Fixed on the projecting ends of said shaft 31 are gears or pinions 32 meshing with the racks 27.

Projecting forwardly of each block portion a is a lug 33 formed with a horizontal transverse through opening 34.

Located between flanges 12b is a vertical cabinet door which may be made of sheet metal, (as in also the cabinet housing and the rack carrier). Said door when in vertical position, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, closes the shelf space 24 at the front of the cabinet. There is one door for each shelf space. One shelf space and one door only are shown in the drawing for purpose of illustration.

The door may be hollow and has a front wall 350, a rear wall 35b, a top wall 350, end walls 35d and a bottom wall 35e. If desired the top, bottom and side walls of the door may have inwardly extending flanges contacting and welded to the inner sides of the front and rear walls. The rear wall 35b is formed, adjacent th ends thereof and adjacent the upper end thereof, with cut-outs 40 and the top wall with cut -outs 41 extending to the cut-outs 40. Lugs 33 of the rack slides 30 project forwardly through the cut-outs 40 and into the hollow door, when the door is in vertical or closed position.

Fixed within said door 35 are door pivot blocks 45 each formed with a groove 46 in its upper end, registering with cut-outs 40, 41, and forming a pair of spaced side walls 45a, 45b. Side wall 45a is formed at its outer side with a counterbore 47 coaxial with bearing opening 34, and with a through hole 48 coaxial with said counterbore 47 and through hole 34. Side wall 45b is formed with a tapped (screw threaded) through opening 49 aligned with through hole 48, but of somewhat smaller diameter. Extending through holes 48, 34, 49, at each side of the door, is a shoulder screw 50 having a head 50a in the counterbore 47, a smooth shank 50b of uniform diameter journalled in openings 48, 34, a shoulder 500 at the end of shank 50b, contacting the inner surface of side wall 45b and a screw shank 50d screwed in threaded hole 49. In this manner the door is hung for swinging movement of the door forwardly and upwardly from vertical to horizontal position. As the door is swung upwardly and forwardly, cutouts 41 move down to vertical position and lugs 33 pass through said cut-outs.

After the door has been moved up to horizontal position, projecting forwardly of the cabinet, said door can be pushed rearwardly to storage position, since the rack-slides are guided by flanges 25d and gears or pinions 32 rotate on the racks. The door can be moved wholly into the cabinet. The depth of the cabinet from front to rear must be at least as great as the vertical height of the door (when the door is in vertical position). As the door is pushed inwardly, it rests on the guide flanges 25d. The torque is carried from one pinion to the other through the shaft 31 to equalize the angular movement of both pinions.

To close the shelf space, the door can be pulled out forwardly, and then it can swing down to vertical position.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an article in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the ac' companying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative only.

I claim:

1. A file cabinet comprising a cabinet housing having side walls and a rear wall, and formed with a shelf space, a pair of rack housings fixed to the inner sides of said side walls and extending horizontally from front to rear at the upper end of said shelf space, racks mounted on said housing in fixed relation thereto and extending from front to rear, guide means on said rack housings, rack slides slidably mounted on said guide means for movement of said rack slides forwardly and rearwardly, a transverse shaft journalled in said rack slides, pinions fixed to said shaft and meshing with said racks, a front door to close said shelf space at the front, and means to pivotally hang said door on said rack slides for swinging movement of said door from vertical hanging position to a horizontal position projecting forwardly of said cabinet, to open the front of said shelf space, and permit said upswung door to be pushed into the cabinet as said pinions rotate in meshing relation with said racks.

2. The combination of claim 1, said guide means on said rack housings being located to support said door in horizontal position as said door is pushed inwardly into said cabinet.

3. The combination of claim 1, said means to pivotally hang said door on said rack slides, comprising door pivot blocks, fixed to said door and carrying hinge pins journalled in bearing openings in said rack slides.

4. The combination of claim 3, said door being hollow, said door pivot blocks being located and fixed within said hollow door.

5. The combination of claim 1, said rack housings each having a vertical wall fixed to the cabinet, and a bottom upwardly opening groove to receive one of said racks therein.

6. The combination of claim 5, said rack housings each having a horizontal flange extending from front to rear and constituting said guide means, and said rack slides each comprising a block having a slot therein slidably receiving said flange.

7. The combination of claim 6, said rack slides having bearing openings to receive end portions of said transverse shaft, the ends of said shaft extending beyond said rack slides, and above said racks, andsaid pinions being received on said extending portions of said shaft to mesh with said racks.

8. The combination of claim 7, said rack slides having lugs projecting through cut-outs in the door and formed with said bearing openings for said hinge pins.

9. The combination of claim 1, said guide means on said rack housings being located to support said door in horizontal position as said door is pushed inwardly into said cabinet, said means to pivotally hang said door on said rack slides, comprising door pivot blocks fixed to said door and carrying hinge pins journalled in bearing openings in said rack slides.

10. The combination of claim 9, said door being hollow, said door pivot blocks being located and fixed within said hollow door.

11. The combination of claim 10, said rack housings each having a vertical wall fixed to the cabinet, and a bottom upwardly opening groove to receive one of said racks therein.

* 1F i i 

1. A file cabinet comprising a cabinet housing having side walls and a rear wall, and formed with a shelf space, a pair of rack housings fixed to the inner sides of said side walls and extending horizontally from front to rear at the upper end of said shelf space, racks mounted on said housing in fixed relation thereto and extending from front to rear, guide means on said rack housings, rack slides slidably mounted on said guide means for movement of said rack slides forwardly and rearwardly, a transverse shaft journalled in said rack slides, pinions fixed to said shaft and meshing with said racks, a front door to close said shelf space at the front, and means to pivotally hang said door on said rack slides for swinging movement of said door from vertical hanging position to a horizontal position projecting forwardly of said cabinet, to open the front of said shelf space, and permit said upswung door to be pushed into the cabinet as said pinions rotate in meshing relation with said racks.
 2. The combination of claim 1, said guide means on said rack housings being located to support said door in horizontal position as said door is pushed inwardly into said cabinet.
 3. The combination of claim 1, said means to pivotally hang said door on said rack slides, comprising door pivot blocks, fixed to said door and carrying hinge pins journalled in bearing openings in said rack slides.
 4. The combination of claim 3, said door being hollow, said door pivot blocks being located and fixed within said hollow door.
 5. The combination of claim 1, said rack housings each having a vertical wall fixed to the cabinet, and a bottom upwardly opening groove to receive one of said racks therein.
 6. The combination of claim 5, said rack housings each having a horizontal flange extending from front to rear and constituting said guide means, and said rack slides each comprising a block having a slot therein slidably receiving said flange.
 7. The combination of claim 6, said rack slides having bearing openings to receive end portions of said transverse shaft, the ends of said shaft extending beyond said rack slides, and above said racks, and said pinions being received on said extending portions of said shaft to mesh with said racks.
 8. The combination of claim 7, said rack slides having lugs projecting through cut-outs in the door and formed with said bearing openings for said hinge pins.
 9. The combination of claim 1, said guide means on said rack housings being located to support said door in horizontal position as said door is pushed inwardly into said cabinet, said means to pivotally hang said door on said rack slides, comprising door pivot blocks fixed to said door and carrying hinge pins journalled in bearing openings in said rack slides.
 10. The combination of claim 9, said door being hollow, said door pivot blocks being located and fixed within said hollow door.
 11. The combination of claim 10, said rack housings each having a vertical wall fixed to the cabinet, and a bottom upwardly opening groove to receive one of said racks therein. 